Medical Students Protest Long Shifts

A group of medical students gathered in Connecticut on Saturday to protest the long hours that physicians in hospital residency programs are often required to work, the Hartford Courant reports. Ten members of the American Medical Student Association assembled outside of Hartford Hospital to distribute leaflets to hospital visitors and passersby. The association says that residents in hospitals often work 100- to 120-hour weeks, leading them to suffer "severe fatigue" that could endanger patients. Kevin Baran, a medical student at the University of Connecticut, said, "Nobody wants to be worked on by a doctor who has been up 36 hours in a row, but it's happening. Sleep depreivation for doctors is a real issue, and it's affecting patient care." The protest was located in Hartford because Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) serves on the House Ways and Means Committee subcommittee on human resources, which is scheduled to review legislation that would limit residents' work shifts to 24 hours and work weeks to 80 hours (Stacom, Hartford Courant, 4/29).